Prayer Works!

Hello Everyone! 

Not much to report on this last week! Everything is still going well here in Madison, CT. I really enjoy it here! 

This week was filled with various appointments with Investigators, Recent Converts, and other Less active members of the ward. I really enjoy getting to know people, so that was fun this week as I continue to meet new people here in the ward. 

We also had our Zone Meeting this week! I really enjoyed just being able to participate and take notes. I really learned a lot about following the spirit and being worthy to have the Spirit as a constant companion. 

I want to just share a quick experience that was really simple, yet profound. 

So we got to Zone Meeting early and Sister McVey and I were sitting on the couch in the foyer. We were waiting for the ZL's and STL's to finish their meeting with the District Leaders. Our Zone Meeting evenutally started and it wasn't until we were getting ready to drive back to our area that we realized we didn't know where our phone was. I knew that we had it while we were waiting in the foyer, so we searched and we still couldn't find it! We asked everyone to check their bags in case they picked up our phone thinking it was their own (all our phones are the same). But still nothing! We checked everywere- in our car, under the couch, our bags. Then, our awesome Zone Leader looks at me and says, "Sister Egan, have you prayed about it?". It honestly had not crossed my mind. I felt so bad! Afterall, I am a missionary! So we stopped and we said a prayer. Right after I said the prayer, I checked under the couch... again. And there it was! Then we said a prayer of gratitude. 

This was just a little example of how prayer works. God truly loves us and is constantly looking out for us! He hears our prayers! (even if it is to just find a phone)

I love you all so much! 

Love, Sister Egan

ROAD TRIP - PART 2 (CHURCH HISTORY)

For the first week of our travels we mainly saw Church History Sites.  Our first destination (DAY 3) was to Council Bluffs, Iowa.  We visited the Kanesville Tabernacle there, that was built specifically for the saints to sustain Brigham Young as the second president and prophet of the the Latter-day Church.  The early saints settled there in Council Bluff before they headed west to Salt Lake City.  There was a beautiful Visitor Center there where we watched a movie depicting the saints and their hardships, as well as the the Mormon Battalion. And the senior couple that led us on our tour were so great. Because we were the only people there we got special treatment.  Right after we drove 20 minutes across the river to  Omaha, Nebraska, where there is another Visitor Center at Winter Quarters.  We went through the center guided by a cute sister Missionary, and then we walked the grounds of the Winter Quarter Temple.  They have a monument at the graves of the saints that died there.  My Turley ancestors were listed on the plaque.

After our day we got back on the road again and headed towards Nauvoo, Illinois

ROAD TRIP - PART 1 (Mt. Rushmore)

We did it.  After hours and hours of planning and preparation we went on our long awaited Cross Country Road Trip.  It was a wonderful experience that I'm so grateful that we got to have - and we survived.  We figured we went to 22 different states, spent 120 hours in the car, and drove 6,000 miles in 16 days.  Wow, that's amazing.

I have to say that this adventure took a lot of organization and planning - which I love to do.  In fact it helped me get through the winter by having something fun to plan and look forward too.  My only worry was that it wasn't going to go according to plan.  I had to plan where we would stay, how much it would cost for lodging, food, and incidentals.  Luckily we didn't have to pay for gas because we took Mike's company car - a great perk for his job.  That's actually why we even considered doing this because we figured we saved $1500 in gas.  I also had to order tickets for different events, and then figure the routes we would be taking.  I'm happy to say it all worked out.  Here's our Itinerary:

Our trip started a little later than scheduled because Kellie went on an Alaskan cruise with her cousins the week before.  Lucky girl - she got to go to 23 states. But poor girl because she had to be in the car 16 hours longer than the rest of us.  Because of the cruise she didn't get back into Spokane until 8:00 Friday night.  So instead of us starting on our journey early Friday morning and getting into Rapid City, SD that night, we opted to drive through the night and then get to Mt. Rushmore around 1:00pm Saturday, making it a total of 22 hours that first day.  Mike was a trooper when it came to driving.  He didn't mind at all driving through the night and it actually made that first leg go a lot faster.

So our first stop was Mt. Rushmore. Saturday, June 29.  It was pretty impressive, but didn't seem as large as we had expected.  We had our photo op and headed back in the car.  When you have to see as many things as we did with the amount of time that we had, that's pretty much how we experienced it - fast.  We look a little scraggly after having been in the car all night, but it was fun to not only get out of the car and walk around, but to be able see something amazing that is part of this great country.

Do The Hula & the Ukelele too!

Haylie really wanted to do Hula this year with her friends.  This isn't the first time we've had the Hula experience.  Ashlie took for a few years when she was younger, and then Haylie did take lessons for a short time with Katherine, when they were 3.  We have a lady in our Stake who is Polynesian and she has a Hula Studio.  She does an amazing job teaching the girls to perform 4-5 dances.  They look so adorable in their costumes and they have a lot of fun.  Haylie especially enjoyed being with her two friends, Natalie and Elizabeth, as well as her cousin, Katherine.

 Ashlie took Ukelele lessons this year with her friends.  She has really enjoyed it and we really enjoyed listening to her practice.  She wasn't as thrilled to play in the performance though.

 Madeline, Ashlie, and Kiana.  They use to take hula together when they were little.

Haylie absolutely loves performing.

Braces Off!

On June 12th, Ashlie finally got her braces off.  She was really excited because she got to show off her new smile at school before it got out on the 14th.  Here's the before and after shots.  Isn't she beautiful.

HAWAII 2013 - Celebrating 20 Years of Bliss

We finally made it back to Hawaii to celebrate our 20th Anniversary- April 30th, 2013.  We went the first time for our 10th Anniversary and because we loved it so much we knew we'd try to go back every 5 years.  Well, life always throws you a curve ball and for our 15th Anniversary Mike was out of work and looking for a new career.  Not an easy time for us.  Hawaii would have to wait.  Well, we overcame that trial in our lives and moved ahead 5 years to our 20th.  We definitely were going to make it to Hawaii this time.
20 years is a long time but It's been a wonderful journey and I love Mike more and more each day.  We've been together through the ups and downs of life and it's all been a blessing.  I love you Mike!

 Because we explored new beaches each day on the Island of Kona, I had to get a shot at what we were looking at.  I couldn't get enough of the white sands and turquoise ocean - it's breathtaking.

 We did a lot of exploring on Kona.  There are so many ecosystems on the island.  At first glance you would think it's all very ugly, the black lava rock covering most of the land.   But  that's what makes the beaches that more fabulous because if you search you can find the most beautiful beaches.  This day we hiked into  lava fields to find Turtle Bay.  And we did see turtles.

 Another beautiful beach.

 Inside the Lava Tubes at the Volcano National Forest.

 Going on our hike down to the Volcano Crater.  It reminded us of walking on the moon.  You could see the steam rise out of the ground and you could feel the heat.

 We loved being together exploring and hiking.  Of course Mike always had to make a competition out of it.  One of the hikes said it would take 2-3 hours.  He said, "Let's do it 1 hour."  Always trying to getter done.  We did and passed a lot of hikers along the way.

 Checking our the ways at the black sandy beach

 Our little set-up when we were trying to keep shaded after we burnt ourselves the day before.  

 Another beautiful beach.

 The Kona Temple.  We have always gone to the temple on our Wedding Anniversary.  It actually had the same floor plan as the Spokane Temple so I felt like we were home.  

 The Waikea Valley.  Talk about a hike.  It was a 25% incline road 1 mile lone down to a waterfall (more like a trickle), and black sandy beaches.  We didn't get pictures of how steep is actually is.  Again, Mike made a goal to get up the hill in 30 minutes.  It takes most people an hour.

 We had such a great time exploring, hiking, and spending time together.  We just forgot to get pictures of us snorkeling.

 Happy 20th Anniversary.  Maybe we'll come back for our 25th.